No, its not a typo, its just my most quoted line from the 1989 Weird Al comedy UHF.
But in all seriousness, I did have a great Father’s Day Surprise this year. My wonderful wife made some secret plans for a climbing outing, and even my 5 year old and 3 year old didn’t spill the beans.
The real story started about a week prior. And actually further set-up back in January. As you may have read in one of my earlier posts, I had set some climbing related goals for 2013. One such goal was to get outside climbing more days in 2013 than previous years. Twenty days to be exact. Well, guess what didn’t cooperate with my plans… Read More

2012 has been a hectic year. Here’s the quick rundown:
Me and Melissa graduated from ASU in May
Summer internships in WV
Went on a road trip to celebrate being done with school
Got engaged on top of Longs Peak CO and climbed the Grand Teton (among other stuff out west)
Moved back to WV (NRG in our backyard!)
Started new jobs as speech therapists.
So that’s the quick rundown of the last 6 months. The highlight though was definitely climbing the Grand via the Owen Spalding route (and of course, getting engaged), which has been on my to-do list ever since I first went to the Tetons in 2000. It took me 12 years and one failed attempt Read More

WOW!!!
That’s was my first impression of the new Rocktown Bouldering Guidebook as soon as I pulled the book out of the shipping envelope…and the WOW factor didn’t stop as I read through the book for this review! With eye popping, brilliantly colored, high resolution action photos jumping off of nearly every page, this guide doesn’t disappoint those that love some good eye candy!
Atop Lookout Mountain in Northeast Georgia exists a labyrinth of sandstone boulders with practically every shape, size and variety of hold and route possible…Rocktown! Rocktown is one of the Big 3 boulderfields in the Southeast, Little Rock City (or Stone Fort to those that haven’t been bouldering for a while) and Horse Pens 40 being Read More

I’d never been to the Black Canyon, but I’d certainly read a lot about it. Bold climbs, ballsy climbers, poison ivy, and dubious rock quality about sums up the literature on it. I was asked/encouraged to go, and looked forward to seeing what would happen.
Heading to the Black seems like the opposite, say, of heading to the Tetons or Castle Valley where your destination jumps up off the plain in front of you. There was one set of mountains, but we went right on through them, down the other side, and off across some scrubby flats through ranches and tiny towns. We were headed to a big climbing area, but it just didn’t feel like it. Like going climbing Read More

Wheel of Life!
The Wheel of Life was not just a hard rock climb nor was it just a big number, for me the Wheel of Life was an experience. It took me from one side of the world and back again. When I got on to my flight leaving LA I had no clue I would send such a majestic piece of rock. Climbing for me hasn’t been about how hard or how bad ass, but for me climbing has been an addiction and a passion. My motivation was created from the beauty, the people and the movement that climbing encompasses. A mind game mixed up with strength, muscle resistance, power, and an un-relentless battle with your body.
On Read More

Vikki and I spent the weekend in Boston watching Alec graduate and eating way too much food. There’s nothing like a Chinese family celebrating the success of its offspring to stop your diet plans in their tracks (we’ve been striding towards eating only plant-based foods). We did manage to visit Rock Spot Boston and drop off samples for Kevin, the retail manager. While there, we happened to meet Metro Rock gym manager John, who was at Rock Spot because he was avoiding the crowds! Apparently, MR is gigantic, but much more of a “scene.”
After the weekend, we drove out to Farley. Vikki picked up a shift along the way, so we didn’t get there until Wednesday afternoon. A hilarious thing happened Read More

This post is much delayed. I’ve sat down four times now to try and capture in words what our time in Horse Pens was like. So far, my words have failed me. I’m taking a stab at it, and please forgive the length of this post.
And please enjoy our newest video! It’s of our last day in Hueco Tanks, where we climbed a bunch for ourselves. I got my hardest send, and Vikki cruised Orifice Affair. Also note the kung-fu yeti firing Smooth Move (V8). Then keep reading.
Looking back now, a week since our departure, Horse Pens 40 feels like a pleasant dinner with the Soprano family. Laughter, some great people, and good food, but just under the surface Read More

A good buddy visited Boulder from out of town, set on climbing for a week or so. With a new baby on the way, he was getting his climbing days in like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter. Needless to say he barely took a day off, dragging partner after partner out into Boulder Canyon, Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons. Dead set on crushing, it was all we could do just to keep him fed and beered. I caught him for the home stretch of his trip. We did two days up on the Flatiron’s Dinosaur Rock, with a rapid-strike mission to Boulder Canyon’s Country Club Crack in between.
The Flatirons offer a different sort of feeling than Boulder’s two Read More

This blog is to detail the Mera Peak and Baruntse expedition I embarked upon in 2011 in preparation for my Everest expedition in the spring of 2012.
Flight to Lukla
The Adventure Peaks team met at Kathmandu prior to the flight to Lukla (dubbed the world’s most dangerous airport). On arriving in Lukla, we took a long (17 day) acclimatisation trek through some of the world’s most beautiful scenery, and eventually to the world’s biggest mountains. There were 10 climbers, two British guides from Cumbria, and 42 porters and Sherpas. Everyone bonded well as a team during the trek, which was a crucial element in being successful once high in the mountains.
First view of Everest from Mera Peak
On Read More

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